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PART 9: CONCLUSION
The Treaty right to health has yet to be fully implemented. The Federal Government has accepted responsibility for First Nations people on reserves through policy, but has yet to recognize a Treaty obligation or the sacred nature of the promises made in the treaty negotiations. However, many of the modern Treaties and self-government agreements include health and wellness provisions, as well as Indigenous control over health care services (TRC, 2015c).
The numbered Treaties contain various written and oral promises to the Treaty right to health. Treaty 6 has the medicine chest and pestilence clauses, and from the record we are able to see that other Nations that agreed to make Treaties were promised the same. In other numbered Treaties, implied or verbal commitments included promises of non-interference with an existing way of life, promises of free medicine and medical care, protection against pestilence, famine, sickness and disease, and the more general promise to care for Indigenous people. These promises are still considered by the descendants of Treaty Nations to be sacred obligations made in the context of building relationships.
The Supreme Court of Canada has developed a robust set of Treaty interpretation principles which must guide the understanding of the Treaty right to health. Treaties are solemn promises and any ambiguity must be resolved in favour of First Nations. In a contemporary context, this requires the full recognition and implementation of the Treaty right to health for all descendants of historic numbered Treaties. Some have argued that the Treaty right to health should not exclude those who reside off their home reserves or those who are Treaty descendants but do not have Indian Status. Unfortunately, the current federal policy relating to health services for First Nations often excludes them from obtaining federally funded services.
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In addition to the recognition of the Treaty right to health, the implementation of this right requires that Indigenous understandings of health be prioritized. For example, overall frameworks of well-being and the Indigenous determinants of health (including access to language, culture and local foods) must be considered as part of a holistic approach to implementing the right. Ceremonies and practices for health and prevention must be part of the strategies for implementation (as may compliment the western medical practices that are often advocated for as part of the rights implementation agenda). Health and wellness are integral to the fulfillment of the Treaty as a whole and are “tied to the implementation of the rest of the Treaty, respecting lands, territories, waters, resources and continuing our life ways” (Littlechild, 2014, pp. 69-70).
Treaty understandings must evolve and adapt to modern circumstances. In addition, the current twin imperatives of reconciliation and selfdetermination must inform the recognition of the Treaty right. In its Principles Respecting the Government of Canada’s Relationship with Indigenous Peoples, the Federal Government asserted that: “…treaties, agreements, and other constructive arrangements between Indigenous Peoples and the Crown have been and are intended to be acts of reconciliation based on mutual recognition and respect” (Department of Justice, 2018, Sect. 5). In sum, while there are strong arguments to make to support the assertion of the Treaty right to health in Canada, the culture of denial through federal policy means that it remains to be recognized and implemented.
